TUCSON, Ariz.
— In one of the most staggering achievements in the history of college
baseball, Arizona’s three starting pitchers threw 5,675 combined pitches
last season enroute to the Wildcats’ fourth national title.

Arizona
finished with 16 complete games, including eight over its final 19 contests.

It was the
most complete games in a single season at the school in the last 23 years.

To put this
in perspective, Arizona had the same amount of complete games as the entire
Southeastern Conference made up of 12 teams.

How did the
Wildcats do it without sustaining serious arm injuries?

This story
answers the question that has been raised by hundreds of coaches throughout
the nation since Arizona won the national title last June.

All 16
complete games were accomplished by a trio of pitchers, including ace Kurt
Heyer (7 CG), Konner Wade (6 CG) and James Farris (3 CG).

In 36 games
last season, this trio of pitchers worked into the seven inning at a
minimum.

Heyer threw
153 innings, which led the nation, and had a 13-2 record, 2.24 ERA and
struck out 113 batters with 28 walks. He worked at least 7 1/3 innings over
13 consecutive starts.

It is
extremely rare to see three pitchers on the same college staff pitch over
100 innings in the same season.

Heyer threw
2,212 total pitches in games while Wade threw 1,851 and Farris 1,612,
according to numbers supplied by Arizona pitching coach Shaun Cole.

In 10
regional, super regional and College World Series games last season,
Arizona’s trio of starting pitchers averaged 8.48 innings per start — an
incredibly rare achievement because so many starters experience dead arms
late in the season.

In an
exclusive interview with Collegiate Baseball, Arizona Head Coach Andy
Lopez and Cole explain the remarkable system that the Wildcats have devised
to train their starting pitchers physically and mentally so they don’t break
down late in the season. Instead, they get stronger and stronger.

Over 50 years
ago, it was common to see starting pitchers in pro and college baseball
finish games or come close.

That
philosophy changed over the years. To prevent dead arms late in a college
season, starters now routinely go six or seven innings followed by a setup
man and then a closer who are both fresh. Pro baseball has followed that
formula for decades.

Then more
pitchers are ready for the stretch run as starters still have plenty of gas
in the tank to perform at playoff time.

Out of
necessity, Arizona was forced to lean heavily on its starting pitchers last
season since the relief pitchers were inconsistent. Lopez has coached many
teams over the years with lock down closers at Pepperdine, Florida and
Arizona.

Because of
the inconsistency early in the season by his bullpen, he asked his three
main starters to go as far as they could in games and try to finish them.

And this
tactic didn’t hurt the Wildcats one bit.

Few people
realize Arizona was 47-0 when leading or tied after eight innings of games
last season.

Despite
nearly 5,700 pitches between the trio of starting pitchers last season, not
one starter experienced elbow or shoulder pain through the season. In fact,
no pitcher on the staff has suffered an elbow or shoulder injury the last
three years at Arizona which shows their system is working.

In fact, they
all thrived on more throwing as the season unfolded as they were at their
best during the NCAA playoffs.

The reason
can be traced to a 4-pronged system implemented by the Wildcats, including:

• A unique
long toss, bullpen and running program implemented by Cole with guidance
from Lopez.

• Strength
and conditioning program orchestrated by Neil Willey. Willey is one of the
most respected strength and conditioning coaches in the nation who has
worked with six national title teams at Arizona in his 14 years with the
Wildcats (2 softball, 1 baseball, 1 women’s golf, 1 men’s swimming and 1
women’s swimming).

•
Post-practice and game care of pitching shoulders and arms by athletic
trainer Leanna Olivar.

• Mental
conditioning program by Wildcat skipper Lopez.

Cole said one
of the greatest examples for throwing complete games for his pitching staff
was Hall of Fame St. Louis Cardinals’ pitcher Bob Gibson who put up stunning
numbers from 1959-1975.

Gibson threw
28 complete games during the 1968 season in 34 starts and also threw 28
complete games in 35 starts in 1969. He also recorded 20 complete games in
five other seasons.

Overall,
Gibson had 255 complete games in 482 starts during his 17-year career.

“Bob Gibson
was absolutely ruthless when he pitched,” said Cole.

“One of the
greatest lines I read on him was that Gibson didn’t just dominate at his
peak. He made hitters pray for a swift, easy death.”

Another great
example was Juan Marichal. At the height of his career in 1968, he went 26-9
over 328 innings and completed 30 games with nearly five strikeouts for
every walk issued. He recorded 22 complete games four other seasons during
his 16 year career.

Possibly the
most amazing example was Hall of Famer Cy Young who pitched from 1890-1911
and recorded 40 or more complete games nine different seasons. He owns the
Major League record for most complete games with 749 in 815 starts over a
22-year career.